Joe Biden to honor Megan Rapinoe with Presidential Medal of Freedom

The US Women’s National Team Victory Tour 2019 at Allianz Field in St Paul, Minnesota on 9/3/19; the US beat Portugal 3-0
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

President Joe Biden announced the 17 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and one of those recipients is Megan Rapinoe, the American professional soccer player who won gold at the 2012 London Summer Olympics and led the U.S. Women’s National Soccer team to victory both the 2015 and 2019 Women’s World Cups.

It’s not hard to see why she is being so honored. Rapinoe has been vocal about gender equality in sports, both when it comes to equal pay and transgender participation. Rapinoe’s political activism has been a guiding light for many others in athletics who follow her example. The out soccer player has earned this prestigious award for a significant amount of striving to be the best role model she possibly can be.

Related: Dolly Parton turned down the Presidential Medal of Freedom twice when Trump offered it to her

Earlier this year, Rapinoe fought alongside her fellow players to win equal pay for women in soccer. The policy change came after she and 27 of her teammates filed an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint for equal pay in 2016 and then a lawsuit in 2019 accusing the U.S. Soccer Federation of gender discrimination. They settled the lawsuit for $24 million earlier this year.

One of the biggest issues of contention on equal pay was…

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